


Press Play

by TottWriter



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fantasy AU, Gen, Humor, You can pry Kenma attempting to save the day with video game logic from my cold dead hands, accidental adventure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-18 20:47:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15494358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TottWriter/pseuds/TottWriter
Summary: Kenma's enjoying the perfect evening - lounging on his bed tackling a boss fight on his PSP. Or at least, that's what he's doing right up until he suddenly passes out and finds himself in a strange fantasy land, surrounding by doppelgangers of his teammates.But they're notreallythere. It's just a dream, right? Clearly the whole thing is just a by-product of falling asleep while playing video games. So there's no harm in telling them he can save the day, and venturing out to rescue an entire kingdom from a magical corruption which its people into thralls of the evil king, armed only with genre-savviness and his trusty PSP...





	Press Play

**Author's Note:**

> So, _Press Play_ was written a while ago now for the Haikyuu!! Fantasy Zine, and I finally get to share it! 
> 
> I had a lot of fun writing this story, and playing with video game and fantasy tropes to offer something of a different spin on the concept of a fantasy AU. I hope people enjoy reading!

It was sometime in the part of the afternoon that bled into evening, and the sky was hung with grey clouds. Rain fell steadily, heavily, and every now and then the air filled for a few moments with the muted _swsssh_ of a car outside driving through deep puddles.

 _Perfect weather for staying indoors,_ Kenma thought. Or rather _would_ have thought, had he been paying any notice at all to the world outside.

Jaunty music mostly drowned out the rain’s tattoo against the glass. Kenma’s chief concern was completing a particularly convoluted boss fight so that he could save and work out where he’d put his PSP charger.

It wasn’t urgent—the battery icon was only half empty—but it had gotten misplaced during Kuroo’s last visit and Kenma didn’t want to risk it running out right in the middle of something important.

Still, charger concerns aside, it was just another day…right up until the moment his vision went blurry and a wave of dizziness washed over him. The world went grey at the edges, and he was dimly aware of his arms giving out beneath him, depositing him face first onto his PSP.

Later, he would remember thinking: _But I didn’t save…_

 

* * *

 

_“—he even alive?”_

_“I’m…I’m_ pretty _sure he’s breathing, Yaku-san!”_

_“Great, so we got a live one. Still looks like a kid if you ask me though.”_

Kenma’s thoughts solidified slowly. Who was talking? The voices definitely sounded familiar. But what were they doing in his room?

Plus, the bed had gone hard and cold beneath him. In fact, it felt more like stone than his mattress.

_What?_

The realisation brought him up sharply, cutting through the disorientation. His eyes snapped open to reveal dark grey flagstones beneath him. A little way off, they were decorated with patterns drawn in… chalk? There was an odd smell, too. Musty and damp, with a rusty tang to it.

“Hey, Yaku-san, he’s getting up! See? I told you he was breathing!”

That sounded like Lev. Why? Kenma looked blearily over to the source and saw, yes, a tall, lanky young man with grey hair and piercing green eyes leaning over to stare at him. He stood on the far side of the drawings. Further away, watching him with rather more sceptical expressions, were… Kuroo and Yaku?

Kenma blinked at them, and rubbed his head as he sat up. Odd. Dreams weren’t usually this realistic, were they? Because it had to be a dream. One minute he was lying in bed, the next he was on the floor in what looked an awful lot like some sort of weird demon-summoning circle, and three of his teammates—one of whom happened to also be his oldest friend—were stood around wearing strange robes? That sort of thing just didn’t happen.

 _I must have fallen asleep playing_ , he thought. _Urgh. If Kuro ever finds out, he’ll never let me live it down._

The three of them didn’t seem to recognise him. That also made a strange kind of sense. Dream adventures tended to substitute familiar faces for any fictional people they featured.

“Greetings,” Dream-Kuroo said, bowing. His smile was the broad, fake one he used when he was worried or unsure about something. “You… appear to have had a rather rougher journey than we’d hoped. I can only apologise…”

There was a questioning note in his voice as he trailed off.

Dream-Yaku elbowed him in the side. “Quit messing about. We don’t have time for this.” He turned to face Kenma. “There appears to have been some sort of mistake. Who _are_ you, exactly?”

Kenma stared at him. It was a dream, so technically he could give any answer he liked. But thinking up a name was hard work, and seeing as it _was_ a dream, it didn’t really matter anyway.

“Kozume Kenma,” he said, looking between the three of them and noting the way their eyes widened. “Kenma’s fine, though.”

“That’s impossible,” Dream-Kuroo said, folding his arms. “I’ve _seen_ the real Kozume, and he is not in the habit of wearing”—he gestured at Kenma vaguely—“Whatever that is. You’re a fake.”

“I am not!” Kenma snapped.

There was a pause. Kenma waited for the usual retort, but it didn’t come. Instead, Kuroo just stared at him. It was irritating.

“Umm…” Dream-Lev said, finally putting an end to the awkward silence. He held up a book. “I… might have written the wrong symbols in a few places. Do you think that could—”

“Give me that,” Dream-Yaku said crossly, snatching it from his hands. “Oh for—Lev, you _idiot!_ No wonder it didn’t work!”

Oh, good. They apparently had the same names in his dream as well. That was easier. Kenma took the opportunity to get to his feet. The floor was cold, and he was only wearing a thin shirt and shorts. He looked down as his hands brushed past something else on the floor beside him and blinked. That… was his PSP.

 _I definitely can’t tell Kuro about this dream,_ he thought, grabbing it as he stood up. He looked over at Dream-Kuroo again warily.

“You’re being creepy, Kuro.”

“Hey! He almost got your name right, Kuroo-san!” Lev said, pointing excitedly.

Kuroo dropped his face into his hands. “Oh by the Gods. You… we’ve got the wrong one!”

Yaku shoved the book back at Lev. “That’s it then. Game over. We don’t have the herbs to cast the spell again.”

“Spell?” Kenma asked.

Kuroo sighed. He looked as though he hadn’t slept in a week. “We were trying to summon a very powerful sorcerer who shares a name with you. _Is_ you. Our world’s version of you, anyway. But apparently Lev messed up the summoning circle, which means we’re in a lot of trouble.”

“Why can’t I help?”

“I don’t suppose you happen to know how to lift a curse or cleanse half a kingdom of a corruption so vile that it’s twisted the minds of everyone affected by it? I’m guessing ‘no’ by the expression on your face.”

It was annoying enough that Kuroo wasn’t acting the way he _ought_ to be acting, but to be written off as completely useless at just a glance really was too much. Especially in his own damn dream.

“I don’t see why I can’t,” Kenma said, scowling. He waved his PSP at the three of them. “I’ve saved whole kingdoms on this before. Shouldn’t be that hard.”

“But how did you get a whole kingdom to fit on that?” Lev asked, leaning over the edge of the circle to look. “It’s much too small.”

Kenma scowled at him and pressed the power button, hiding a smirk when the three of them stepped back in surprise.

“So it’s a magical artifact…” Yaku said, nodding. “Well, perhaps there’s some salvaging this then, although I’m not at all familiar with whatever branch of sorcery you make use of in your world.”

“It harnesses electricity,” Kenma said. “Caged lightning, stored inside it. That’s what gives it its power.” He glanced at the screen. “I don’t have a full charge on it though,” he added, half to himself. That was an odd detail for a dream.

“Limited use, then,” Kuroo replied. “Still, perhaps not all is lost. You’ve saved entire _kingdoms?_ ”

“We don’t have time for this,” Yaku said. “I’ll explain, and then either you can help us, or you can go with Lev and try to find the materials to start over. Understood? Okay. The king used to be a good man. Honest, brave, good judge of character... the lot. Two years ago that changed. Now he’s a monster, and we need to stop him. People are dying. Life is being sucked from the soil to fuel the dark sorcery giving him power. We have officially run out of time to come up with a plan. Which is where you come in.”

“If you’ve really saved whole kingdoms before, that’s going to be a big help!” Lev added.

“We can’t even get near him,” Kuroo said dully. “He’s conscripted an army, and the black magic he’s using has blinded them to reason. Our magics won’t get us past without a fight, and there are precious few of us left. Not to mention the moral implications of slaughtering innocent men and women who’ve had their willpower removed. If we can stem the corruption at its source we could purify them… but as it stands, it’s spreading. Fast.”

“Kozume specialises in purification magic,” Yaku said. “The _plan_ was to get him to clear the armies so we could confront the king and put a stop to him once and for all.”

 _Okay, it’s like a puzzle game,_ Kenma thought.

“Well what can the three of you do? Besides mess up.”

“Okay, we deserved that one,” Kuroo said, grinning. “I’m an alchemist usually, although I’ve been forced to branch out the last few months. Most of my order fell to the corruption.”

“I’m a powerful chanter!” Lev cried. He raised his arms above his head. “I call upon the elements to do my every bidding!”

“If you can’t even draw a summoning circle, that’s never going to happen,” Yaku snapped. “You need to get your basics sorted. Raw magical talent is just going to get you into trouble otherwise.” He shook his head, then turned to Kenma and added: “I’m a scholar, mostly. Kuroo and I have worked together a lot over the years, although we have… different methodologies.”

“You’re too rash,” Kuroo said.

“You’re too slow to act! We should have stepped in at the _start_ , and then maybe—”

“Enough!” Kenma snapped. “Stop _bickering_ , you two.” _Even in my dream they won’t stop arguing. This is too much like real life._ “How far away is the castle?” _Maybe if I sort this out the dream will end faster._

“That’s… a complicated question,” Yaku said. “Technically it’s two hundred miles off, but that’s only if you look at where we are on a map. Through the main entrance we’re less than an hour’s walk, thanks to some very complex—”

“So it’s basically folded space,” Kenma said, nodding. He didn’t need to hear the details. “Fine. Is there only one way out? How closely guarded is it?”

“You’re taking this all remarkably well,” Kuroo said. “Do you jump realities a lot or something?”

Kenma didn’t bother to correct him.

“The entrance to this place is a secret,” Lev said. “But we’ll have to cross the valley to get to the castle entrance, and that’s where the King’s army is camped.”

“We’re not going to the castle’s entrance,” Kenma said. He frowned. “You’re sure you know how to heal the king? You said it was just getting inside that was the problem.”

“We have an elixir,” Kuroo said. “It’s—”

“The king is the source of the corruption at this point,” Yaku said, cutting him off and eyeing him warily. “Wherever it came from to begin with, it’s self-sustaining now. So either we can purify him, or…or we need to put a more final end to things. After that, the corruption will fade and the land can heal itself over time.”

“Well, you’re the experts,” Kenma said, shrugging. “So. I just have to get you past the army, right?”

Kuroo sighed. “We were banking on a bit of support after that to be honest, but sure. The real—” he cleared his throat—“ _T_ _his_ world’s Kozume would have been a big help with the purification. But I guess we’ll have to adapt, if you’re sure you’re willing to help us. I’d understand if you didn’t want to take the risk. This isn’t even your world.”

Kenma frowned. Were dream people normally so worried about things?

“Listen, we’re out of time,” Yaku said. “That’s the only reason we tried the summoning with just three of us in the _first_ place. If we managed to get a Kozume of some sort even despite whatever it was Lev did wrong _this_ time, we’ll just have to take it on faith he’s up to the job.”

“He’s a _child_ ,” Kuroo said, pointing at him.

Kenma gritted his teeth.

“I am not,” he said, scowling. “And you need my help, so don’t be picky.”

 

* * *

 

For a dream, it took them a surprisingly long time to gather their things and head into the countryside. It looked like the setting of a post-apocalypse survival game: all dead trees and dried up grass. Ahead, a smattering of drab houses clustered together.

“The castle’s on the far side of the town,” Kuroo said. “The army’s camped out on what used to be farmland and common ground, but they patrol regularly. It’ll take a couple of hours to go around them.”

Kenma sighed, nodding. “We’d better go then,” he said, thinking perhaps it would be one of those dreams where he blinked a few times and somehow the walking part was over.

It wasn’t.

About half an hour in, he got bored of trudging along a dusty track in silence. The boots they’d given him felt odd and uncomfortable, and it was too quiet. There was no wildlife. Just the steady tramp of feet.

The castle loomed above them as they drew closer. Its highest towers seemed to be made of a different, darker stone to the rest.

“I’m guessing the spires were built after the king turned evil,” Kenma remarked, frowning at them. The tallest, most imposing one had “final boss encounter” written all over it.

Lev turned to face him and nodded enthusiastically.

“Yeah, that was one of the first things that happened when the corruption really took hold. There was too much dark magic at the quarry, and it turned the stones all…” He gestured casually at them.

Once Lev had started on the topic of the king’s transformation into an evil overlord, he turned out to be impossible to stop. Ordinarily Kenma would have despaired, but it was at least better than marching in gloomy near-silence. Kuroo and Yaku walked ahead, muttering to each other, but their words were too quiet to catch, especially over Lev’s eager account of everything which had transpired:

“…so the whole thing just started so slowly that we don’t know when the corruption actually took hold,” Lev was saying. “Every time we visited the castle, he seemed so… _normal_ , and so did all his advisers and servants.”

“People can act, though,” Kenma said. “He was probably putting on a show when you were there.”

Lev frowned. “I don’t know,” he said slowly. “He never seemed the acting type to me.”

Kenma shrugged rather than reply. This dream was tiresome enough without trying to explain things to Lev, _especially_ as he wasn’t even real.

“How long until we’re there?” he asked instead.

 

* * *

 

Approaching the castle from the back was a solid strategy. Kenma had factored in all the risks Lev had mentioned on their hike, and it was the only viable option with their available resources. Even so, it had definitely sounded like a better plan before he saw the wide moat which surrounded the castle’s outer walls. Even with the looming dusk to provide cover, it was an intimidating prospect.

“Now you see why we needed to clear the army,” Yaku said. “There’s no point trying to swim across. Aside from it being _filthy_ , you’d probably get eaten. Even if you didn’t you’d still have to scale the walls without anyone seeing you.”

Kenma scowled at him. Did they think he was stupid?

“Lev, you need to freeze this part of the moat,” he said, pointing at it. “You said you work with elements, and Yaku seems to think you’ve got a lot of raw strength.”

Lev nodded with all the over-enthusiasm his real-life counterpart possessed, and fumbled inside his robes. He brought out a small book and flipped through the pages before muttering something under his breath, one hand raised. Ice crystals formed on his palm, and he snapped the book closed again, grinning.

“Okay, that’s a neat idea, but it still only gets us outside the walls,” Kuroo said, watching with apparent wariness as Lev stretched out his arms and began to freeze the water.

“Just trust me,” Kenma muttered. He was starting to get annoyed with this imaginary Kuroo.

It felt odd not to have Kuroo’s trust, but at least there were no further arguments as they carefully made their way across the water. There wasn’t time or energy to waste on disagreements. By the time they reached the thin strip of land between the castle walls and the water, Lev was starting to flag.

Despite the fact he _knew_ it was just a dream, he couldn’t help sighing with relief when they stepped onto solid ground. He held up his PSP, turning it to face the wall. The light from it would be steadier than fire, and far less obvious to any guards overhead.

They’d covered more than a third of the wall, and the sky outside had its first stars before he found what he was looking for: a section where the stones were _ever_ so slightly different in color. It was adjacent to a patch where the castle wall plunged straight down into the water. He closed his eyes and ran his fingers over the blocks, unable to hold back a satisfied smirk when he felt the edge of one block. Its neighbour seemed solid at first, but when he pressed down...

“Here,” he said. “It’s a secret entrance.” Opening his eyes, he turned to look at the others so he could see their expressions as he pressed his hand into an apparently solid wall.

“How—” Yaku shook his head. “How did you know?”

Kenma held up his PSP. “There’s _always_ a secret entrance,” he said flatly. “And I’ve seen enough speedruns to know it’s a waste of time trying to fight enemies if you don’t have to.”

“What are—” Lev started to say, but Kuroo pushed past him.

“Come on,” he said grimly. “If we’re doing this we’d better get it over with.”

Kenma had half expected the hidden boathouse on the inside of the walls—it would be pointless building a secret exit which didn’t allow the escapees to actually cross the moat—but not the solid wooden door barring any further progress. Mentally he kicked himself, but to his surprise no one seemed worried.

Kuroo peered at the handle and rattled it gently, pressing his ear against the wood.

“Okay, I’ve got this,” he announced. “Deadbolt on the far side. Gonna make a lot of fumes, though, so you’d best cover your mouths. Take these.” He reached into his satchel and pulled out four strips of fabric, handing three over to them before tying the fourth around his mouth and nose. That done, he turned back to the door and grabbed a bottle from his bag. After unstopping it he pressed the lip against the wood by the latch.

The air filled with clouds of smoke. By the time Kuroo swung the door open, Kenma and the others had been forced to retreat to the far corner of the boathouse, even with the makeshift masks to cover their faces. They gave the fumes a minute or so to clear, by which time Kuroo had darted into the room and returned. He swung the door closed.

“Leads into the wine cellars,” he said, voice slightly muffled by the mask. “We’d better go before his majesty wants a top-up. Come on.”

There was still smoke to waft away as they went. At first Kenma assumed it was from the door, but as they left the cellar behind and started walking up a spiral staircase, he realised his mistake.

“What _is_ this?” he asked, glad he’d kept the fabric tied across his face.

Kuroo had kept his mask on too. “Side-effect of the corruption?” he asked, shrugging.

Yaku shook his head. “Not quite,” he said. “I’ve smelled something like this once before. It’s—someone’s _burning_ magic. That’s how it’s being corrupted in the first place.”

Kuroo’s eyes widened visibly, even through the haze of smoke and general gloom of the castle’s interior. He rummaged in his bag and brought out another vial, smaller and filled with a liquid which gave off a rainbow’s worth of glowing light.

“Okay, one at a time. Deep breath, then take off your masks so I can drop some of this on,” he said firmly. “Otherwise it won’t be long before _we’re_ as corrupted as everyone else.

Yaku frowned. “We’re meant to be saving that for the throne room,” he said. “If we use too much now…”

Kuroo shook his head. “Pointless saving it if we turn before we can use it. We’ll just have to hope there’s enough.”

“What happened to your ‘cautious cautious’ attitude?” Yaku asked, folding his arms.

“I could say the same in reverse, Mr. Charge-In-Without-A-Plan,” Kuroo snapped, before taking a breath and removing his own mask. He let several drops fall onto the side of the material closest to his face before replacing it.

“Quit arguing,” Kenma said. “We need to find the king.”

“Corrupted or not, he won’t be anywhere the smoke reaches,” Yaku said, “It’s the sort of environment his slaves will labour in, not him. He’ll be up in the nicer air.”

“Oh, the tower!” Lev said, perking up. “I bet he’s in the—”

“We _know_ he’s in the tower, Lev,” Kuroo said tiredly. “He was never going to be anywhere else.”

 

* * *

 

The ground floor of the castle proper was even more thick with fumes. It poured up from the stairwells down to the cellars, which glowed with a flickering, red-purple light. Smoking torches were stuck in brackets along the walls here and there, staining them with a more natural kind of soot.

“Once upon a time, the entire castle was lit by magelight,” Yaku muttered. “I suppose there’s no spare magic for that anymore.”

It was too dark to see much of the castle’s decorations as they made their way to the upper floors, but Kenma could just about make out some of the designs on the many tapestries which lined the walls of the bigger corridors. They were faded and dismal from more than just the dim light. Holding up his PSP, he could see that most of the color had been bleached away. It was just about possible to make out the faint outlines of people, and some sort of stylised bird.

Lev sighed. “The castle used to be really pretty,” he said softly. “I guess the smoke and the corruption got to all of these.”

Kenma let his PSP go dark once more. There was something unnerving about those faded pictures.

“Where _is_ everyone?” Yaku muttered.

“Stoking the fires, I suppose,” Kuroo said darkly. “We’re almost there. Best hush.”

It was easy to tell which room was the throne room—it was the only room in all those dark halls from which bright light shone out, even if it _was_ an ugly, purplish red.

They paused outside. Kuroo kept his hand inside his satchel, standing hunched over. His face had twisted with concern that was obvious even though only his eyes were actually visible. Yaku reached up and patted him on the shoulder, nodding once.

As far as confrontational entrances went, Kenma felt theirs was sorely lacking. There were no guards to push aside, no doors to swing open. There was just an archway, and beyond it a large hallway lit by chandeliers which burned in unnatural colours. At the far end, seated upon a throne, a decidedly familiar face was flanked by burly guards.  

Kenma groaned. Oh, of _course_ it would be Bokuto.

“ _He’s_ the king?” he hissed. “Why didn’t you _say_ so?”

Yaku shot him an odd look, but Kuroo was already marching forward.

“Your Majesty, this _ends_ ,” he said. “The land wilts; the people are dying. You’ve lost yourself. We are here to restore you.”

Bokuto stirred on his throne, scowling across the throne room. His eyes glowed faintly with the same sickly red light as the candles overhead.

Kenma was unsure why he followed Yaku and Lev as they flanked Kuroo. He’d done his part, hadn’t he? All they had to do now was get that vial of whatever to cleanse Bokuto of the corruption.

 _It’s too easy_ , he thought suddenly. _They’re wrong._

“Akaashi, stop them!” Bokuto snapped as they reached the halfway mark.

A silent figure emerged from the shadows behind the throne. He wore a suit littered with medals, and his eyes glowed a dull, sullen red. They flashed brightly as he rested his weight on a long, crystal-topped staff.

“ _Akaashi?_ ” Kenma exclaimed. He looked _creepy_.

Lev apparently mistook his surprise for an honest question. “He’s the king’s most loyal adviser,” he muttered, taking a step back. “But he’s also a pretty adept—”

“Oh, you’re _joking_ ,” Kenma snapped, rolling his eyes. He stood up straighter, pulling his PSP from his pocket with his left hand. “Hey! Bokuto!”

“Uh,” Lev murmured, as every pair of eyes in the room refocused on Kenma. “What are you _doing?_ ”

Kenma pushed past him, taking advantage of the momentary confusion he’d caused with his outburst. He grabbed Kuroo’s arm and snatched the bottle from him with his free hand, making sure to stare straight ahead at Bokuto as he moved. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Akaashi leaning, ready to attack.

Gritting his teeth—even in a _dream_ the prospect of what he was about to do went against every instinct he possessed—he hit the power button on his PSP so it lit up, and tossed it at the king.

Akaashi lunged into action, blasting the device with lightning even as Kenma made his second throw.

 

* * *

 

“I still don’t understand how you knew,” Yaku said, watching as Kuroo and Lev helped Akaashi restrain Bokuto until the corruption had time to wear off. “How did you work out that it was _Akaashi_ who had been corrupted first?”

Kenma sighed. “If there’s a vizier, or a close adviser, they’re _always_ responsible,” he said, shrugging. “But even if he hadn’t been, I would have cured Akaashi first. He’s the only person who can reliably handle Bokuto.”

Yaku smirked at him. “I take it you’re acquainted in your own world too, then?”

 

* * *

 

It was late in the night before they were finished extinguishing the magical fires in the cellar and leading the servants up out of the smoke to safety while the air cleared. They reconvened in the throne room.

“The king’s eyes are growing clearer already,” Akaashi announced. “I am sure he will return to his normal self soon.” He bowed to Kenma. “And I owe you a great debt,” he said. “By the time I understood the nature of the corruption which had afflicted me, it had clouded my mind and my judgement.”

“We’re _all_ in your debt,” Yaku said ruefully. “You might not have been the Kozume we were hoping for, but we definitely underestimated you. How can we ever repay you?”

Kenma ducked his head, feeling heat flood his cheeks.

“I didn’t really do much,” he muttered, shrugging. He ran his fingers over the shattered screen of his PSP as he spoke. There was an odd, uncomfortable feeling brewing in his gut the longer he looked at it.

“What _is_ that device?” Akaashi asked.

“It’s saved whole kingdoms using stored lightning!” Lev exclaimed, before slumping a little. “But I guess it can’t do that any more.”

Akaashi held out his hand. “If I may? I could attempt to restore it to its proper condition.”

“If you really think you can,” Kenma said, shrugging. After all, it wouldn’t make much difference when he woke up.

It was almost funny to watch Akaashi solemnly take the PSP in his hands, holding it as though it were some priceless artifact. Kenma watched, eyebrows raised, until Akaashi started to glow brightly enough that he had to look away. When the light faded he was only half surprised to see that his PSP looked pristine. It followed the rules, after all.

 

* * *

 

“The circle’s drawn,” Kuroo said. He’d crouched down next to where Kenma was slumped against a wall.

Kenma flinched. He felt bone-weary. Had… had he fallen asleep? In a dream?

“Okay,” he said, wishing he felt less groggy.

“Listen, I… I’m sorry I called you a fake. And a child. Well, I mean, you _are_ a child, but—”

“Am not,” Kenma said, automatically.

He sighed when Kuroo just stared at him blankly, and added: “I think I want to wake up now, thanks.”

Kuroo grinned. “Well, that’s one way of putting it,” he said. “But as I said. We’re all ready. And Lev had nothing to do with drawing it this time, I swear.”

He helped Kenma to his feet and led him over to a far more elaborate circle than the one which had been scrawled on the floor in the refuge.

“Akaashi gave us the supplies from the king’s stores,” Yaku said, looking it over carefully. “It should be a much less bumpy trip. All you need to do is stand in the middle, and we’ll get started.”

Kenma nodded, and stepped over the swirling patterns to stand in the centre of the design. He waved awkwardly. “Bye, I guess,” he said. “Good luck with Bokuto.”

 

* * *

 

He was lying on something soft—except for his face, which was pressed against a hard, lumpish object. Rain drummed against glass somewhere nearby.

Kenma opened his eyes and found himself face down on his bed with the edge of his PSP poking almost into his eye. Oh. So he _did_ wake up then. In that case, why did he still feel as tired as if he hadn’t slept?

He sat up, groaning, and rubbed his eyes. It was by far the strangest, most vivid dream he’d ever had. Definitely too embarrassing to tell anyone about.

Oh, and he hadn’t managed to finish the boss fight before falling asleep, either. Drat. Unless it had paused itself somehow?

Kenma grabbed his PSP and turned on the power, only to be met with the disappointing sight of the menu screen. Of _course_ it hadn’t saved. His eye flickered to the battery. Perhaps he’d be able to try again before…wait.

The bar was full.

 


End file.
